Vehicle-tongue.



U TED STATil PATENT. OFFIGE.

JAMES NELSON McOM BER, OF NASHVILLE, MICHIGAN.

vEHIcLn'roNGUE. 7

Application filed July 1, 1912. Serial No."707,045.

tain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle-Tongues, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the ac-- companying drawings.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in vehicle ton es, and more particularly to a tongue which is adapted for use in connection with a sulky or'other various forms of plows, the object or the invention being to-provide a movable andarigid tongue section thereby allowing the tongue to break at any desired angle so that the draft animal will move in a more natu-- ral way instead of cramping the tongue around as is necessarywith the rigid style of tongue, the vehicle being turned by the pull traces.

Another object of-the inventionis to provide a vehicle tongue'of the above charac-' ter which will possess advantages in points of efiiciencyand durability, is inexpensive: to manufacture, and at the same time is simple in construction and operation.

With the above and other objects in'view the invention consists in the novel features of construction'and the combination and ar-' rangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claims, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which 7 v 7 Figure 1 is a top: plan view, the movable section being shown in a rigid position. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the tongue in a, released position, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view on'the line 6-6 of Fig. l.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 indicam's'vthe rigidvportion of the tongue which maybe secured to a plow or vehicle of any well known type andto the outer end of which is pivotally secured the movable tongue section -2.

Secured at one of its ends to the tongue section 2 by-means ofthe bolts 27. The vertically disposed flange 28 of the thereof as show (30, 21 shoulder Specification of Letters Patent.

7 the inner'end of the movable tongue-section 2 is'an an ular curved arm 3 whichis securely bolted to Patented July 1, 1913.

arm is in a locked position. The roller 8 is pivotally mounted upon the inner end of the armlO which is formed of two link sections 10 and 10, pivotally secured together as shown at 11. A link member 14' is provided having one of* its ends pivotally mounted upon the rigid section 1 and havingits other end pivotally secured to the axle-of the roller 8 so as to limit i-ng movement of the arm 10.

The bracket 13 which is secured to one side of the rigid section'l is provided with tin-extension 22 which extends to the outer end of the rigid section 1 and is provided with an outwardly extending ear23 ar downwardly extending cars 24 formed upon the .plate 25 which is secured'to one side of the inovable section2.

Pivotally mounted upon the pin '19 which is ar-rangedlatone side of the rigid section 1' is an operating lever 18,- the' inner end of arm :10 by means of thelink member .17. :The outer end of the lever -18 is provided with a foot .piece 21 whereby the samemay be readily'pressed by the foot to remove the roller :8 from engagement with I the shoulder--31 to allow the movable section 2 to turn the roller 8 after being released from the shoulder 31 riding upon the curved surface of the vertical flange 28. A coil spring 20 is provided having one of its ends secured to the operating lever 18 and its otherend secured to the rigid section 1'of the tongue, the tension of said spring holding the roller into engagement with the shoulder 31 so as to prevent accidental displacement of the same. A a

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it'rwill be readilyapparent that I have provideda simple and etiicient vehicle tongue whereby the draft animals whichare secured thereto can easily turn a corner or turn tongue as is necessarywith the rigid tongue in use at the present time, the pull upon the vehicle when turning. a corner being entirely upop-traces. It will also be seen that I ,have provided a combined rigid and loose plow tongue with an automatic closure and lot king device which offers no resistance to the opening og'f -elosing movement of 31 agai'nstwhich the roller 8 abuts when the the swingwhich is pivotally connected to the sectional 8, .when in its operative position, securely,

nearly square around without cramping theranged between and pivotallysecured to the I tongue until the tongue is nearly closed when it automatically takes up the Work of closing the tongue and forces it shut with increasing pressure until it is quite closed and securely locked.

lV-hile I have shownand described the "preferred form of my invention, it will' be obvious that various changes in the details of construction and in the proportions may be resorted to without sacrificing any of the novel features or departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What. I claim is 1. A vehicle tongue comprising a rigid sectioma movable section pivotally secured to the outer end of the rigid section and arranged in parallel relation therewith, a curved arm rigidly secured at -one of its ends to the inner end of the movable section, a shoulderformed'on said arm adjacent one end thereof, a lever pivotally mounted upon the rigid section, an arm pivotally mounted upon the rigid section opposite the lever, said arm comprising pivotally connected link sections, a roller mounted upon one end of the 7 arm and adapted to engage said shoulder, a

link member having one of its ends pivotally connected to the sectional arm at its pivotal connection and havingv its other end 0 pivotally connected to the inner end of the lever whereby pressure upon the outer end of the lever will disengage the roller from the shoulder and release the movable section.

2. A vehicle tongue comprising a rigid section, a movable section pivotally secured to the outer end of the rigid section and ar ranged in parallel relation therewith, a curved arm rigidly secured at one of its ends to the inner endof the movable section, a vertically disposed flange formed upon said arm and arranged at one side thereof upon one end of the arm, said flange extending over and arranged upon the other side of the arm to form a shoulder arranged adj acent one end of the arm, an arm pivotally mounted upon the rigid section, a roller mounted upon one end of the arm and adapted to engage-said shoulder, an operating lever pivotally mounted upon the rigid section and having one end pivotally connected to said arm whereby pressure upon the outer end of the lever will disengage the roller from the shoulder and release the I movable section.-

In testimony whereof I hereunto aliix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

' JAMES NELSON McOMBER.

Witnesses:

DnMor 'A. SPENCER,

FRANK S. WARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0. 

